The shoulder is the site of many clinically important disorders. The practitioner's ability to understand, diagnose and manage these disorders is impaired by a lack of information about this complex articulation. The American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons and the Shoulder and Elbow Committee of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons propose a conference/workshop to stimulate new research that will lead to improved care of shoulder problems. Our intent is to attract not only orthopaedic surgeons interested in the shoulder, but also rheumatologists, other clinicians and basic scientists to a critical analysis of the current state of knowledge and to an identification of the opportunities for future relevant research on the shoulder. In this way we hope to attract new investigators and to stimulate collaboration among scientists with diverse skills and backgrounds. As an additional stimulus to future research, we also plan a publication summarizing the current state of knowledge and avenues for further investigation. We propose that the conference/workshop emphasize the truly unique feature of the shoulder: its balance between exceptional mobility and stability. We suggest that this balance is central to normal function and to many of the important pathological states. We have divided the subject into seven target areas, each assigned to a task force. Because of the volume of material that needs to be included, our intention is that all the analysis and summation of the literature in the seven target areas will be completed prior to the workshop and will be read by all participants in advance of the meeting. The meeting itself can, therefore, be devoted to open discussion of the written work of the task forces and to exploration of future directions for research.